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The New Coffee Room

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  3. The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread

The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread

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  • 89th8 Online
    89th8 Online
    89th
    wrote on last edited by
    #423

    I don't disagree, and crypto isn't even 1% of what I am invested in, but still... what about diamonds? Relatively useless (I know, drilling... and jewelry...) but diamonds are basically pretty lumps of coal that everyone has agreed is worth tons of "money".

    1 Reply Last reply
    • LuFins DadL Offline
      LuFins DadL Offline
      LuFins Dad
      wrote on last edited by
      #424

      But blockchains those are real! And are needed to do… stuff! Important stuff! Like… crypto security! Yeah! You need blockchains to protect your information on crypto markets, so you should definitely invest into crypto markets because you’ll need them to keep safe on the crypto markets!

      The Brad

      1 Reply Last reply
      • George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by
        #425

        A lawyer was talking about the "Hawk Tuah" crypto thing.

        "Someone lost a lot of money and said, 'I really don't understand how crypto works.' Well, guess what, you don't have to know how a blender works to not stick your dick in it."

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        MikM 1 Reply Last reply
        • AxtremusA Offline
          AxtremusA Offline
          Axtremus
          wrote on last edited by Axtremus
          #426

          https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

          Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

          This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

          After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

          MikM jon-nycJ 2 Replies Last reply
          • George KG George K

            A lawyer was talking about the "Hawk Tuah" crypto thing.

            "Someone lost a lot of money and said, 'I really don't understand how crypto works.' Well, guess what, you don't have to know how a blender works to not stick your dick in it."

            MikM Offline
            MikM Offline
            Mik
            wrote on last edited by
            #427

            @George-K said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

            A lawyer was talking about the "Hawk Tuah" crypto thing.

            "Someone lost a lot of money and said, 'I really don't understand how crypto works.' Well, guess what, you don't have to know how a blender works to not stick your dick in it."

            Outstanding observation.

            “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

            1 Reply Last reply
            • AxtremusA Axtremus

              https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

              Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

              This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

              After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

              MikM Offline
              MikM Offline
              Mik
              wrote on last edited by
              #428

              @Axtremus said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

              https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

              Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

              This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

              After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

              That is certainly how it seems to me.

              “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

              1 Reply Last reply
              • jon-nycJ Offline
                jon-nycJ Offline
                jon-nyc
                wrote on last edited by
                #429

                What ultimately gives fiat currencies value is that governments require you to use them to pay taxes. No such equivalent for crypto.

                Only non-witches get due process.

                • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                HoraceH 1 Reply Last reply
                • AxtremusA Axtremus

                  https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

                  Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

                  This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

                  After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

                  jon-nycJ Offline
                  jon-nycJ Offline
                  jon-nyc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #430

                  @Axtremus said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

                  https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

                  Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

                  This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

                  After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

                  You forgot money laundering.

                  Only non-witches get due process.

                  • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • LuFins DadL Offline
                    LuFins DadL Offline
                    LuFins Dad
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #431

                    It is speculating, but it’s not blind speculation. Emerging blockchain technologies do look to have very promising applications in secure data transfer. Healthcare systems are looking at using it for faster and more secure methods of transferring patient data, banks and credit card processors are investing into it for better and more secure financial transactions. There are applications that could make blockchains one of the most critical technologies developed in first half of the century, which could have significant financial implications. Tossing a few bucks into the pot doesn’t necessarily hurt. Especially with a pro-crypto admin coming in.

                    The Brad

                    HoraceH 1 Reply Last reply
                    • markM Offline
                      markM Offline
                      mark
                      wrote on last edited by mark
                      #432

                      My "investment" or "wager" in Shiba Inu is currently almost twice what I have invested. I am waiting this cycle out, to see if it gets close to ATH. If it does I will cash out with 2 - 3 x the "lunch money investment" I made and still have 40 million of them
                      for which I will have spent zero "real coins"

                      I have already cashed in 50% of my original wager in fiat dollars issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • LuFins DadL LuFins Dad

                        It is speculating, but it’s not blind speculation. Emerging blockchain technologies do look to have very promising applications in secure data transfer. Healthcare systems are looking at using it for faster and more secure methods of transferring patient data, banks and credit card processors are investing into it for better and more secure financial transactions. There are applications that could make blockchains one of the most critical technologies developed in first half of the century, which could have significant financial implications. Tossing a few bucks into the pot doesn’t necessarily hurt. Especially with a pro-crypto admin coming in.

                        HoraceH Offline
                        HoraceH Offline
                        Horace
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #433

                        @LuFins-Dad said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

                        It is speculating, but it’s not blind speculation. Emerging blockchain technologies do look to have very promising applications in secure data transfer. Healthcare systems are looking at using it for faster and more secure methods of transferring patient data, banks and credit card processors are investing into it for better and more secure financial transactions. There are applications that could make blockchains one of the most critical technologies developed in first half of the century, which could have significant financial implications. Tossing a few bucks into the pot doesn’t necessarily hurt. Especially with a pro-crypto admin coming in.

                        I don’t see the connection between the general value of an algorithm and the value of an application of that algorithm into a gambling game. The gambling game might still be useless.

                        Education is extremely important.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                          What ultimately gives fiat currencies value is that governments require you to use them to pay taxes. No such equivalent for crypto.

                          HoraceH Offline
                          HoraceH Offline
                          Horace
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #434

                          @jon-nyc said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

                          What ultimately gives fiat currencies value is that governments require you to use them to pay taxes. No such equivalent for crypto.

                          Slightly imprecise framing IMO. I would say that fiat currencies have value because they are defined as valuable by entities with authority to impose violence on you, if you do not provide them that value upon request.

                          Education is extremely important.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • AxtremusA Offline
                            AxtremusA Offline
                            Axtremus
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #435

                            https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/01/30/errol-musk-memecoin-elon-tesla-donald-trump-crypto/

                            Elon Musk’s father Errol looks to monetize his famous name with ‘Musk It’ memecoin: ‘I’m the head of the family’

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • AxtremusA Offline
                              AxtremusA Offline
                              Axtremus
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #436

                              https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/business/rainbowex-crypto-ponzi-scheme.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7k4.1E46.Om7LSXWGaMmo

                              A close look into a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that took a town in Argentina, one of hundreds such schemes around the world.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • taiwan_girlT Offline
                                taiwan_girlT Offline
                                taiwan_girl
                                wrote last edited by
                                #437

                                https://www.pcworld.com/article/2767705/bitcoin-mining-is-no-longer-profitable.html

                                ... the basic equation is that it now costs more in electricity to “mine” a single Bitcoin than that Bitcoin is currently worth—by a significant margin. Due to the nature of the Bitcoin protocol, which started the better part of two decades ago, it was inevitable that we’d reach this point eventually. The pool of minable Bitcoins shrinks as more are mined, and as that happens, the cryptographic work needed to “find” new ones becomes increasingly harder.

                                Coinshares, via reporting from Overlclockers.ru and PCGamer, reports that we’re now past that point—well past it, in fact. The math says that mining a new Bitcoin in 2025 costs approximately $137,000 USD in electricity, even if you have the (very expensive) computer power to do it, while that Bitcoin is worth about $95,000 on the open market. Even at its all-time high of over $100,000 earlier this year, and assuming ideal conditions with access to cheap power and hardware, it’s a losing game.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • KlausK Online
                                  KlausK Online
                                  Klaus
                                  wrote last edited by Klaus
                                  #438

                                  That doesn't make sense to me. The difficulty of mining a Bitcoin is adjusted every two weeks to get a block time around every 10 mins. That should make that situation very unlikely and self-correct quickly. Also, I believe the miners get something extra from the transaction costs.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  • jon-nycJ Offline
                                    jon-nycJ Offline
                                    jon-nyc
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #439

                                    Yes there are transaction fees. They were always in the protocol but were never collected in the early days because mining was sufficiently profitable. They became meaningful around 10 years ago.

                                    Only non-witches get due process.

                                    • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • KlausK Online
                                      KlausK Online
                                      Klaus
                                      wrote last edited by Klaus
                                      #440

                                      Yes, from what I understand, the transaction costs are going to become more and more important until they become the single source of income for miners (namely when the maximum number of bitcoins has been reached).

                                      In any case, I believe the protocol is self-adjusting in the sense that the situation above - mining more expensive than reward - self-corrects quickly.

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